at the intersection of business, parenthood, and music

Every year there is a nationwide effort to encourage kids to think like entrepreneurs called Lemonade Day. This year it was held in Austin on May 5 (cinco de Mayo), 2013 and both of my kids participated with some of their classmates. One location was at the Rookie Triathlon and the other was at Mueller Lake Park. My daughter’s team made a profit of $91. They split $90 three ways and gave $1 to the 3 year old sister of one of the girl’s on the team. Her younger sister is so cute and had a sign that said “buy my sister’s lemonade” that she held while yelling the words on her sign. She drew in many customers by her sheer cuteness and confidence! Although she deserved more than $1, she is only 3 and thought $1 was an amazing amount of money. My sister and her friends are 7 and 8 years old…oh what a few years of living does to change your perspective on the value of $1.

My son and his buddy are still calculating their returns, but it looks like they made money after deducting costs. I’ve told both my son and daughter that no gloating is allowed. I have a feeling my daughter’s team performed better mostly because of Location, Location, Location!

Lemonade Day is a great way to teach kids about the economics of running a little business and was started to help teach kids about entrepreneurship. The kids create signs and are supposed to figure out what supplies they need and how many drinks/snacks they need to sell to make a profit. It’s fun for the parents too and gives us an opportunity to talk about business, marketing, and selling with our kids. Those are skills that will serve them well for life! Gone are the days of steady jobs that last 20 or 30+ years. Here are the days where most people will hold 10 to 20 different jobs [infographic] at different companies in their lifetime. Might as well teach them how to pick themselves into the job/career that they want!